Labour Force Survey 2008, 3rd quarter

Labour Force Survey 2008, 3rd quarter

As of the 1st quarter of 1972, SSB has conducted official quarterly labour force surveys (AKU). These surveys aim to give the labour force authorities (and other people interested) knowledge of the occupational structure of the population and how it develops over time. The surveys are meant to give a foundation and statistical material for occupational prognoses and labour research. The samples in AKU are from 1992 representative at county level. In the period 1972-1991 they were representative on county pair level.

As from January 2006 some major changes were introduced to AKU in order to enhance its comparability to similar surveys in other countries. The changes consist of minor definitional adjustments of unemployment, some adjustments and enlargement of the questionnaire and a change in age definition (age at reference point instead of at the end of the year). Simultaneously the lower age limit to be included in AKU was lowered from 16 to 15 years. This led to some breaks in the time series in the aforementioned areas.

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Originally, AKU respondents were interviewed in two consecutive quarters of a year, followed by a pause of two quarters, and then another two quarters of interviews. The sample was approximately 10-11.000 respondents in each quarter up until 1988. Originally, AKU was intended to be an analytical supplement to the monthly occupational statistics that was based on the social security membership index file. However, the social security-based statistics disappeared when the sickness benefit was included in the National Insurance as of 1st of January 1971, and AKU has after gradually developed into the most significant source of knowledge of the state of the labour market and its development.

In 1975, Statistics Norway changed the sampling frame of survey research, see article 37: “Om bruk av stikkprøver ved kontoret for intervjuundersøkelser”, SSB (About the Use of Random Samples at the Office for Survey Research, Statistics Norway) by Steinar Tamsfoss, and SØS 33: “Prinsipper og metoder for Statistisk sentralbyrås utvalgsundersøkelse (Principles and Methods for Statistics Norway's sample research) by Ib Thomsen. Simultaneously, the method for estimation of inflation to national numbers was changed, so that reasonable numbers for regions do exist from 1975 and onwards. The change in 1975 led to a different way of interviewing in groups. This caused amongst other things a break with the AKU panel systematics.

In the AKU survey of 1976, a slightly changed questionnaire was introduced. Also, there was a return to the original 6-quarter rotation scheme. The new questionnaire implied a better identification of family workers and persons that are temporarily without paid work. Thus, 30-35 000 more people were defined as employed. The group of "job-seekers without income" were also extended to include persons that were on an involuntary leave of absence. The questions concerning underemployment and “over employment” in the original questionnaire were abandoned.

From the 1st quarter of 1987, the estimation method (inflation to national numbers) was slightly changed. There was also a minor adjustment in the definition of employment. In order to ensure that the numbers were to be comparable to earlier surveys, new versions of the 1980-1986 AKU-files were drawn up. Consequently two versions of the 1980-1987 files - respectively with the old and new methods of estimation - exist. The “old” means that the data are comparable to the original numbers published in the period of 1972 - 1987, whilst the “new” implies that the data are comparable to numbers published after 1987.
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Between the 1st and 2nd quarter of 1988, the AKU file description was changed. The variable “Labour-market status” was given a different coding. In addition, adjustments in the data collections were made - from interviewing a specific week every quarter to carry out continuous weekly interviews. SSB also started up an escalation scheme to increase the sample size. This affected the weights, and from the 2nd quarter of 1988, these were recalculated monthly. To balance out the quarterly or yearly files to total national numbers, the monthly weights therefore had to be divided in three or twelve to give the correct total number.

In 1996, AKU was significantly revised: The questionnaire, the file description and the standard for coding of industry and occupation. The data collection also changed to CATI - Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing. A new classification of industry was put into use (NOS C 182, based on the EU standard NACE, Rev.1). This standard was updated in 2002 and 2007. Also, the new Norwegian standard classification of occupations (STYRK) based on ISCO 88 was used from 1996 and onwards. The variable indicating socio-economic status was omitted, as a similar variable was not developed in the new occupational classification.

2008年第三季度劳动力调查

自1972年第一季度起，挪威统计总局（SSB，Statistics Norway）便开展官方季度劳动力调查（AKU）。此类调查旨在为劳动力管理部门及其他相关关注者提供人口职业结构及其随时间演变的相关信息，同时为职业预测与劳动力研究提供基础依据与统计素材。1992年起，AKU的样本具备县级代表性；而1972年至1991年期间，样本仅具备双县级代表性。

自2006年1月起，AKU进行了多项重大调整，以提升其与其他国家同类调查的可比性。调整内容包括：对失业定义进行小幅修订、调整并扩充调查问卷、修改年龄统计口径（采用调查基准时点年龄而非年末年龄）；同时将AKU的纳入年龄下限从16岁下调至15岁。上述调整导致上述统计领域的时间序列出现断点。

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最初，AKU的受访对象需在一年中的两个连续季度接受访谈，随后暂停两个季度，再进行两个季度的访谈。1988年之前，每季度的受访样本量约为10000至11000人。AKU最初旨在作为基于社会保障会员索引档案的月度职业统计的分析补充。但1971年1月1日起，疾病津贴被纳入国民保险体系，基于社会保障的统计数据随之停用，AKU此后逐步发展为了解劳动力市场现状及其发展态势的核心信息来源。

1975年，挪威统计局调整了调查研究的抽样框架，相关细节可参见Steinar Tamsfoss所著的SSB文献第37篇《关于调查研究办公室的随机样本使用规范》（原文挪威语标题：*Om bruk av stikkprøver ved kontoret for intervjuundersøkelser*），以及Ib Thomsen所著的SØS 33号文献《挪威统计总局抽样调查的原则与方法》（原文挪威语标题：*Prinsipper og metoder for Statistisk sentralbyrås utvalgsundersøkelse*）。与此同时，将样本数据推算为全国总量的估算方法得到调整，自此1975年起可生成合理的区域统计数据。1975年的调整改变了群体访谈方式，其中一项影响便是打破了AKU的面板轮换体系。

1976年的AKU调查启用了小幅修订后的调查问卷，同时恢复了最初的6季度轮换体系。新问卷能够更好地识别家庭帮工与临时无薪劳动者，因此新增了30000至35000名就业人口。“无收入求职者”群体的范围也得到扩充，将非自愿休假人员纳入其中。原问卷中关于就业不足与过度就业的问题被移除。

自1987年第一季度起，样本推算全国总量的估算方法进行了小幅调整，就业定义也进行了小幅修订。为确保数据与此前调查的可比性，研究人员编制了1980年至1986年AKU数据文件的新版。因此1980年至1987年的AKU数据文件存在两个版本，分别采用旧版与新版估算方法。“旧版”意味着数据可与1972年至1987年发布的原始数据进行对比，而“新版”则意味着数据可与1987年后发布的数据进行对比。

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1988年第一季度至第二季度期间，AKU的数据文件规范进行了调整，“劳动力市场地位”变量的编码方式发生变化。此外，数据采集方式也进行了调整：从每季度针对特定一周进行访谈改为持续每周开展访谈。挪威统计总局还启动了样本量扩容计划，这对样本权重产生了影响，自1988年第二季度起，样本权重改为每月重新计算。为使季度或年度数据文件与全国总量匹配，需将月度权重除以3或12，以得到正确的总样本数。

1996年，AKU进行了重大修订，涉及调查问卷、数据文件规范以及行业与职业编码标准。数据采集方式也改为计算机辅助电话调查（CATI, Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing）。新的行业分类标准（基于欧盟NACE Rev.1标准的NOS C 182）正式启用，该标准分别于2002年与2007年进行了更新。同时，1996年起启用基于国际标准职业分类1988版（ISCO 88）的新版挪威职业分类标准（STYRK）。由于新版职业分类体系未设置对应的社会经济地位变量，原体系中的社会经济地位变量被移除。